There’s a guy who worked for a language web site in Utah. He was head of their social media department. Unfortunately, he was recently fired because he wrote something about homophones and the boss thought people might take it the wrong way and think the school was promoting homosexuality. I guess the homo was the confusing part.

Speaking to the Salt Lake City Tribune, Torkildson said after the post went public he was called into the office of the company’s owner Clarke Woodger. Woodger then told him he was fired. Torkildson posted the conversation between the two on Facebook, with Woodger saying the social media writer ‘could not be trusted’.

You can read more here. Although I don’t agree with what Woodger did, I have a feeling he was probably right about a lot of people not knowing the meaning of the word homophone. That doesn’t make firing Torkildson right, not by any means. It just shows the kind of world we’re still living in and what “homo” still means to many.

The comments are interesting, too. Evidently, some people think spelling and grammar are more important than homophobia.

Zachary Quinto on Kids

Zachary Quinto is an openly gay actor whom I’ve posted about in the past. This is a discussion I’ve had with Tony many times. Like me, Quinto likes kids but isn’t sure he wants them.

‘I’m going to get in so much trouble for saying this, but I’ve always really wanted to have a kid but now all of my friends have kids and I’ll come in from a trip or hang out with my friends and their kids. ‘I’m thrilled to hang out with them, but by the time they’re ready to go home I’m so ready for them to go home. I’m kind of like, “I need to re-evaluate this. I don’t know.”‘ You can read the rest here. I’m forwarding this one to Tony right now.

Australia: Passive Aggressive Homophobia

Here we go again with passive aggressive homophobia, and it’s not James Franco this time. This time it’s happening in Australia. I know some of you think it’s funny and I’m being too PC, but once again, do this with any other minority and see what happens. It won’t be pretty. In the right context, with the right intent, I do think this sort of thing can be funny. But this isn’t an example of humor. This reality show only thought it would be funny to trick straight men into auditioning for a gay reality show without telling the straight men about it. I remember once going to a gay nightclub when I was very young and from my car I watched a group of frat boys blindfold a guy and try to trick him this way, too. Oh, they thought it was hysterical. It was the first time I experienced disgust and chagrin at the same time.

Proving that people will do just about anything to get that fifteen minutes of “me time” in the spotlight, a real Australian prank show called Balls of Steel auditioned a bunch of straight muscle bros for a fake reality show called Summer of Love and slowly cranked up the gay dial to see how they’d react.

Imagine how a gay teenager struggling with his or her own identity is going to feel watching this. Or, a closeted adult who only knows what he or she sees on TV about the LGBTI community, for that matter.

We really need to work on this.

Free Gay Excerpt: Cage James

Here’s an excerpt from my newest release, Cage James. I’m going to be posting about one of the topics in this book very soon…exotic meats. I’m not an advocate of eating exotic meats, but one of the more ridiculous characters in the book is. And in the end he gets the most ironic surprise of HIS life.

I’ll be releasing this one soon. I’ll post more about that as I get updates.

Later that same day, Sam climbed into his mother’s fifty-year-old Rolls Royce with Forna and they headed out to Sam’s personal psychic who lived outside the city.The car was so old and rickety they couldn’t go over forty miles per hour and it took an hour and a half to drive there.Sam had a standing appointment at seven p.m. once a week, so they didn’t bother to eat dinner together than night.If there was one thing Sam wouldn’t miss, it was his weekly appointment with this psychic whom he claimed kept him balanced and “earth bound.”

Cage always thought it was more about a privileged, spoiled idiot with too much money to spend.Forna went along for the ride as Sam’s companion and complained about the old car with each step he took.Forna was always trying to talk Sam into a new car, but Sam would always reply the same way: “Mother always said there’s no point in being frivolous.You don’t replace something until it’s not working anymore.”This is why the harvest gold washer and dryer in the house were over forty years old.

Although Sam asked if Cage wanted to join them that evening, Cage declined and said he preferred to stay home and watch TV alone.The last thing Cage wanted to do was spend hours in a smelly old car with Forna and that fucking monkey, and then listen to some crack pot psychic fill Sam’s head with all kinds of new age garbage.The last time Sam went the psychic charged him a thousand dollars for candles that would ward off evil spirits.But more than that, Cage had received a text message from Rick that afternoon and he wasn’t sure how to reply.In the text message Rick stated that Jared wanted to know if Cage was still working on getting the money he owed them.This message from Rick didn’t make Cage wonder.He knew Jared was the boss and he made Rick do all the dirty work, especially when it came to collecting money.

When Sam and Forna were finally gone, Cage pulled his phone out of his bathrobe pocket and started to text something to Rick.He stopped mid-sentence and decided to phone him instead.He’d been thinking about Rick.There was something about a handsome man with a stocky muscular body and reddish-brown hair that made Cage’s dick come to life before he even realized it.

Cage dialed Rick’s number and the phone rang four times.On the fifth ring, Rick picked it up and said, “Hello.Who’s this?”

Cage thought fast and said, “I don’t have it all, but I can give you some of it tonight.”Before Sam took his routine four o’clock afternoon nap earlier that day, he went down to the basement to get two thousand dollars in cash so Cage could adopt a spider monkey.He asked Cage to wait upstairs in the bedroom, but Cage followed him down to see where he kept the money and snuck back up to the bedroom without Sam noticing him.He didn’t follow him all the way down to the basement.That would have been too risky.He followed him part of the way so he could get a basic idea about where Sam kept all the cash in the house.Sam had confirmed all the rumors that almost all of his money was cash and he kept it hidden in the house.

“Jared’s not going to be too happy about that,” Rick said.“I’m not sure what to tell him.”

“You can’t expect me to get it that fast. Why don’t you come over here and I’ll explain it all in more detail,” Cage said.“I’ll show you that I can get you all the money, and even more.”

Rick hesitated for a moment, and then said, “Where are you?”

Cage gave him the address and made a point of saying, “But you have to come right now.And don’t bring Jared.Come alone.”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” Rick said.“Jared’s out of town for a few days, so I’ll be alone.”

After they hung up, Cage went up to the bedroom to shower and change his clothes.He knew Rick would be there in less than twenty minutes and he didn’t want to waste a moment.He dried himself off fast and styled his hair.He decided to leave a little rough stubble on his face and he went right to the closet to choose something to wear.

As he removed a pair of black skinny jeans from the top shelf, the doorbell rang and he stopped and thought for a second.The doorbell rang again and he tossed the black jeans back on the shelf and reached for the same short silky black robe he’d been wearing all day because it made him feel sexy. The pocket was damp because he’d thrown the raw meat from breakfast away and rinsed the pocket out. By the time the doorbell rang a third time, he was running down the stairs in the front hall.

He rushed to the door and took a few quick breaths.When he opened it and found Rick standing there in jeans, a tan sport jacket, and a white shirt, he smiled and said, “I’m sorry you had to wait, buddy.This is a big place. I was upstairs in the bedroom getting ready for you.”

Rick noticed the short black robe and said, “This is where you live?”

Cage stepped aside and said, “Home sweet home, man.Come in and I’ll show you around.”

Rick stepped into the main hall and looked around slowly.The floors were black and white marble, the white walls covered with antique paintings in gilded frames, and the chandelier had crystals in some places the size of dessert plates.It was probably the most formal part of the house, other than the grand ballroom.

Cage tightened the bathrobe and said, “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to get dressed.I just took a shower and I didn’t want you to wait too long.”He was starting to get those intense urges he always got around big strong men like Rick.He walked over to him slowly and ran his fingertips up and down Rick’s bicep.“Can I get you anything?”

Rick turned and smiled.“How about the money?”

Cage squeezed his bicep this time and said, “I told you I can give you some tonight, and I’ll get you the rest very soon.I’m getting married and I’ll have all the money I want then.”

Rick reached out and ran his large hand across a marble top console to his right.“You’re getting married?”

Cage shrugged.“I might as well.Guys like me don’t have that many choices.”He’d once met a woman who told him he had many options.He’d been sleeping with her husband on the down low for money and she’d found his address at the time in her husband’s coat pocket. Cage laughed in her face, mentioned her husband had a nice dick, and told her he had as many options as she did.Last he’d heard, she was still married to the cheating prick and the cheating prick was screwing around with another young guy.

“Interesting,” Rick said, moving closer to him.“I have a feeling you want to give me more than money tonight.”He reached down with both hands, lifted Cage’s bathrobe up to his waist slowly, and pulled Cage closer to him.

Cage put his arms around Rick’s shoulders and said, “You’ve got it all wrong, man.It’s not about what I want to give you.It’s all about what you’re going to give me right now.”He caressed the back of Rick’s head with one hand and reached down to grab the bulge between Rick’s legs with the other.Cage squeezed him and said, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.”

Author of over 100 published LGBT romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN and best selling VIRGIN BILLIONAIRE SERIES. Hates beets.
New Hope, PA Palm Springs, CA
ryan-field.blogspot.com